Board of Directors

Patti Bacchus is a public education advocate and commentator, who was also the Vancouver School Board’s longest-serving chair, from 2008-2014. She was a leader in campaigning for school seismic upgrades, sexual orientation and gender identity policies, and Vancouver’s first Indigenous focused school of choice and Early Mandarin Bilingual program. She believes that a strong and well-resourced public education system is key to a healthy and just society.  She has also served on the Board of the Broadbent Institute. Patti has written extensively about public education issues in the Georgia Straight.

Rory Brown is a long-time education activist, advocate and teacher. He is the former President of the Vancouver Secondary Teachers’ Association and was also a member of the Executive of the British Columbia Teachers’ Federation. Rory ran as a School Trustee with Onecity Vancouver in the last municipal election. He believes strongly in the social benefit of public institutions and their role in fostering diversity and plurality. He is interested in how publicly funded institutions navigate neoliberal and individualistic motivations and how public education can offer redistributive structures to society. Rory is currently faculty at the British Columbia Institute of Technology in the Mechanical Engineering Department, Technology Teacher Education Program.

From his beginnings as a high school teacher to superintendent of the Delta and Vancouver school districts to Vice President, Students at KPU, Steve Cardwell has always been a strong advocate for students and the work of educators. Early on, he was President of his local and served on the BCTF provincial bargaining committee as well as President of the BC Science Teachers’ Association. In 2013, Steve was awarded the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee medal for his outstanding service to public education. In 2022, the KPU Foundation created a bursary in his name to support his area of passion – marginalized students, especially Indigenous and former youth in care. Steve values ethical leadership, fosters strong working relationships and leads with empathy.

Steve is the Chair of the Board of Directors.

David Chudnovsky worked in nursery, elementary and secondary schools and at the university level in England, Ontario and BC during his 35-year teaching career.  He is a past-president of the British Columbia Teachers’ Federation and was an elected Member of the Legislative Assembly in British Columbia Legislature from 2005-2009.  David is co-author of the Charter for Public Education.

David is Chair of IPE/BC’s Fundraising & Partnerships Committee.

Kirsten Daub is the K-12 Sector Coordinator for the Canadian Union of Public Employees in British Columbia (CUPE BC Region) and is a CUPE National Servicing Representative. Kirsten coordinates provincial bargaining for K-12 support staff and provincial-wide strategies and campaigns for the sector. Prior to CUPE, Kirsten worked for over ten years at CoDevelopment Canada, building international solidarity between unions and social justice organizations in Canada and Latin America.

Annabree Fairweather is the Executive Director  Confederation of University Faculty Associations of British Columbia (CUFA BC).She has over a decade of experience in post-secondary academic labour in BC and Alberta. As a first-generation graduate, Annabree is passionate about the broader societal values of higher education to global citizenship. Prior to her career in university labour, she was a published researcher and contract instructor. Annabree holds a Master of Science in experimental psychology and a double major Bachelor of Arts (French) and Science (psychology).

Larry Kuehn is the former Director of Research and Technology at the BC Teachers’ Federation. He is a Research Associate for the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives and has written extensively on issues related to globalization and education. Among his most recent articles are International students as a market in Canadian public education and Digital capitalism:  A social order is built into technology, including educational use of technology.

Larry is Chair of the Research & Programs Committee.

Moira Mackenzie has a long history of advocacy and engagement in public education. She taught in BC public schools for many years at the primary and intermediate levels, and as a Resource and Learning Assistance teacher. She retired recently from the BC Teachers’ Federation where she served as Assistant Director in Professional and Social Issues, Director of the Communications and Campaigns Division, and Executive Director. She is deeply committed to quality public education and the crucial role it plays in a democratic society.

Moira is Chair of the Communications Committee.

John Malcolmson was formerly the CUPE research analyst for the K-12 sector. He is interested in education finance and, in particular, the mounting structural shortfall in K-12 funding produced as a result of neoliberal austerity imposed from above, and the changing role played by property taxation in the funding of public schools.

John serves on the Research and Programs Committee.

Kevin Millsip has served as the executive director of the BC Libraries Cooperative since 2018, focusing on advocacy for libraries with the provincial and federal governments  He was a Vancouver School and later worked for the board as its first Sustainability Coordinator, working on projects connected to sustainable school food systems, waste reduction, active transportation and climate action. He has co-founded two capacity-building organizations, Next UP and Check Your Head, and helped found the organizing projects CanRoots and Organize BC. Kevin works with the Columbia Institute and is working on a project to develop unionized cooperatives. He also serves on the  boards of the Wilderness Committee and For Our Kids.

Bárbara Silva is a public education advocate, organizer and activist. She holds a degree in Chemical Engineering and Education and has worked in both fields, but is most passionate about building support for an equitable and accessible public education system and creating awareness about the proliferation of privatization across Canada. In 2015, Bárbara co-founded the citizen-run public education advocacy organization Support Our Students Alberta, which led several campaigns and rallies in defence of public education across the province. As an experienced public speaker, she was widely sought after as a go-to media source and presenter for issues around public education in the province. Bárbara’s advocacy is based on the right of every child to a universally accessible public education.

Janice St. Helene began teaching in Ontario and relocated to British Columbia to continue her career as an elementary teacher and  school principal in a Vancouver independent school. In 2013, Janice accepted a position at SFU and was a Faculty Associate and later Program Coordinator in the Faculty of Education’s Professional Development Program (PDP). Janice served as Associate Director of SFU’s Preservice Professional Studies and was appointed as a Professor of Professional Practice in 2018. In 2022, Janice began her role as the Director of Professional Programs, supporting both the in-service and preservice teacher education programs at SFU. She has worked closely with local and northern school districts, the Ministries of Education and Childcare and Post-Secondary Education and Future Skills.  Through her work at SFU, Janice has made a strong commitment to decolonization, anti-racism and anti-oppression work in teacher education, to working alongside rural and northern communities and to upholding the integrity of the teaching profession in British Columbia.

Bryn Williams has worked in education since the late 1980’s in formal and informal settings, including Lynn Canyon Ecology Centre and five districts across Metro Vancouver. He is currently a principal at Leigh Elementary where the focus is on the inclusion and Indigenous Ways of Knowing with particular emphasis on social emotional learning and restorative justice practices.  He is the Executive Director of the BC ASCD and current President of the Coquitlam Principals/Vice-Principals Association.